A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY NOTES AND REVISION

Distinguish between positive and negative symptoms of Schizophrenia (4 marks) Positive symptoms and negative symptoms are the two categories of symptoms recognised by both the DSM-5 and the ICD-10. Positive symptoms are described as 'additions to your ordinary behaviour' and involve behaviours such as hallucinations (sensory experience of something thats not actually there) and delusions (a false belief that doesn't change, even when presented with contradictory evidence). Negative symptoms, however, are considered to be the 'loss of usual abilities' - for example: speech poverty (the reduction in the amount and quality of speech) and avolition (finding it difficult to keep up with goal-related activities). Negative symptoms are generally more difficult to identify because they're not as overt as positive symptoms.

Briefly describe two symptoms of Schizophrenia (4 marks) Positive symptoms are additions to your ordinary behaviour - one example of a positive symptom is hallucinations. Hallucinations are sensory experiences of something that is not actually there - for example, auditory hallucinations (hearing something that's not there): these tend to involve harsh and critical voices telling the sufferer to perform out-of-character behaviour.  Another example of a symptom is Avolition (this is a negative symptom (involves the loss of usually abilities)) - this is where a person will find it difficult to keep up with goal-related activity. The individual will generally have a sharp reduction in energy and lack motivation to carry on with a range of tasks. 

There are various different methods of defining abnormality. These include: the statistical infrequency definition; the deviation from social norms definition; the failure to function adequately, and deviation from ideal mental health. Definition 1: The statistical infrequency definition. Under this definition, abnormality is defined as any substantial deviation from the statistically calculated average ( ±2 standard deviations away from the mean, in a normal distribution). Therefore any behaviour that occurs rarely in relation to the entire population is viewed as "abnormal". For example, the average IQ score is 100, and only 2% of the entire population have a score of 70 or less - and so, these individuals, under this definition would be considered "abnormal" and would be liable to receive a diagnosis of a psychological disorder (intellectual disability disorder). PEE (Point, Evidence, Explain) Evaluation points: Strength : One strength of this definiti

Crime: A legalistic definition : "breaking the laws of society" A normative definition : "acts that can cause offence to moral norms and values held by society such as religion beliefs" Problems in defining crimes: There are many problems in defining crime. For example: Historical context : the definition of what a "crime" is changes over time. For example, homosexuality was regarded as a crime in the UK before 1967. Culture : what is regarded as a crime in one culture, may not be seen as a crime in another. For example, in some countries it is completely acceptable to have more than one wife - however, in the UK this is considered to be a crime (bigamy). Age : determines whether the individual is viewed as a criminal or not. For example, stealing is quite obviously a crime, but if a three-year old child wonders out of a shop carrying something they haven't bought, they wouldn't be considered a criminal. Specific Cir